


the tribe of desire

by luna65



Category: Greta Van Fleet (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Bromance to Romance, California Boys, Consensual Underage Sex, Greta Van Teens, Multi, POV Third Person, Recreational Drug Use, Sammy & Danny: relationship goals, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24417397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luna65/pseuds/luna65
Summary: Never entirely strangers, but quite possibly strange...Danny might have finally foundhome.
Relationships: Sam Kiszka/Danny Wagner
Comments: 47
Kudos: 16





	1. the players take the stage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [helena_s_renn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/helena_s_renn/gifts).



> Although this is not truly a derivative story I wanted to acknowledge helena_s_renn’s stories “Born, Reborn” and “Darkness, Sunrise” which served as inspiration - perhaps better-stated, those two stories and mine share the **same** inspiration, after a fashion.

They’d moved in just before Christmas - **had** to because his dad was due to start his new teaching job when vacation was over - and his mom was already muttering she didn’t know how they were going to survive living so close to the airport when he first saw them, the family who would change his life.

The U-Haul truck parked in front of the house drew a lot of stares, he could feel them. It was an old neighborhood, three blocks up from El Porto Beach, working-class and shabby, but not completely run-down. Danny was bummed there wasn't a basement. Their old house in Encinitas had one, a rarity in Southern California, but it has been the perfect place for him to play. For all of them, really, a family blessed with musical talent, but they’d all decided he was the one who might actually do something with it.

His mom, she had once possessed some singer-songwriter kind of ambition, but it got derailed in the form of himself and his sister, now stopping in the middle of the front walkway to glance down the street. Two kids stood in the driveway of another house, equally aged as their new-to-them residence, yelling at each other while another, taller, kid looked on impassively.

Two of the kids had guitars.

“Look dude,” she said to him, “there’s a band, like, built-in.”

“Huh,” he replied, forgetting the heat, sore muscles from lugging boxes and furniture into the house, and a pervasive sense of homesickness.

He didn’t even know he had been living in paradise, living a dream, until it was all ripped away from him. No matter how his dad had explained it - that the transfer to a different school district meant better pay, and they might still be able to move to the beach - all he could hear was a sorrowful melody of leaving his friends, his favorite beach, golfing at Torrey Pines, even. Though his interest in the Sport of Kings had waned since he discovered the drums, and finally managed some ability as a surfer. He started out skating, with a paper route to save up for his first soft top, but it had taken years to develop the grace to stop being such a goddamn Barney. Like anything else, it required utter obsession - and Danny was good at that, an unwavering focus.

Danny was a mediocre skater - couldn’t really manage any tricks beyond a decent ollie and a not-so-decent kickflip - it was more what everyone had done in his neighborhood, so he did it too. But music had him in a chokehold, first guitar, then drums. He had watched other friends become interested, then drop by the wayside when it got hard. But he couldn’t stop. Once he learned chords, then tabs, and then to actually play songs, he was hooked.

But even beyond a certain remove as the kid who had so many interests none of his friends could keep up, he had been happy. His parents encouraged him and his sister in whatever they wanted to pursue, and he had it better than most because they all really loved each other. He didn’t realize how strange that was until he noticed that he only saw some of his friends some of the time, having to move between two houses. But his dad drove him to golf lessons, music lessons, up at dawn to go surfing, all of it, without a complaint. They would blast Zeppelin and munch breakfast burritos and talk about _everything_. His dad had a way of making Danny feel like his opinion mattered just as much as anyone else’s.

Things were changing, but not everything had to change.

“So, you gonna go out with the dawn patrol at El Porto?” he was asked as he and his dad tried to organize the garage. Whatever dispute they had witnessed earlier at the house down the street, it appeared to be cycling through moments of loud conversation, yelling, and then flurries of something that sounded close enough to music to make Danny curious.

Because there were no drums.

“Huh? Oh yeah - try the walk with my stick, anyway.”

“I’ll come with, if you’d rather go in the truck.”

Danny smiled. “I mean, I’ve gotta figure it out eventually. But if it’s a good break, then we can hit it on Sunday, right?”

“Make sure you wear your springsuit, okay? I haven’t heard the greatest things about the water quality in this area.”

Danny nodded with a smirk. “I looooove L.A.”

Whatever his dad had to say was drowned out by yet another jet passing overhead.

Josh and Jake’s arguing had derailed yet another practice session, so Sam decided to do something useful - to him, that is - and wax his stick. Between the repetition of spreading some Mr. Zog’s across his board he watched the progress of the new family moving in up the street. He noticed the kid - tall, long dark hair, built like a running back. And his pretty equally tall sister. And then -

“Jakey,” he yelled in the direction of the garage.

“What?!”

“C’mere - you’re gonna wanna see this.”

“Sammy, I’m tryin’ to -” His brother came out of the garage and stopped dead, looking over to where his brother was pointing. “Oh. Well goddamn.”

“Right? Should we talk to him now?”

“Naw, let’s wait till later. We’ll bring some guitars with us.”

Danny looked out the peephole and saw them crowding the porch. He grinned wide but then reminded himself to be cool. He opened the door to three people who definitely looked related, two of them carried guitar cases.

“Hey neighbor!” the one without an instrument exclaimed, and produced a cake pan. “We made this for you guys.”

“Hi neighbors,” he greeted them. “I’m Danny, how’s it goin?’”

“Set your drums up yet?” Jake asked, slipping past him. Danny looked slightly scandalized.

“Hey, I’m Sam,” the tall one offered with a smile. “That’s Jake, Josh is the other one. Yeah, so we’re in a band.”

“Cool, but no, we’re still trying to figure out where to put my kit.”

Josh was introducing himself to the family, and Danny’s mom was already won over, he could tell. Jake hung back, curious but cool. Danny recognized that Jake actually _was_ cool, he had that thing which could not be named, but was immediately recognizable.

“Oh my god you surf too?!” Sam exclaimed from inside his room, and Danny realized that while he hadn’t been paying attention these kids had just _invaded_ his house.

“Like, for real?” Jake inquired, skepticism evident. “Sure not you’re not a shoob, noob?”

“For real,” Danny replied. “We’re from Encinitas.” 

“We’re not about the vibes here, new guy,” the other shot back. “This isn’t soul surfer bullshit, we fuckin’ _ride_.”

“Jacob, do you think you can **not** sound like a delinquent in front of the noob’s parents?” Josh hissed.

“Man, why did you guys move _here_?” Sam asked. “Like, talk about a comedown.”

“Yeah,” Danny said, his expression equal parts trepidation and fascination. “That’s _exactly_ what I was thinking.”

“Who wants cake?” Danny’s mom called out, and they all laughed softly.


	2. intersections

Danny’s room had been judged and apparently passed, all three nodding at the posters on his wall: Beatles, Hendrix, Marley, blown-up photos he had taken: surfers on the break at Waimea Bay, Shaun White earning his nickname on a skateboard.

“I’ve never seen a poster of Tomato skating,” Sam observed. “Must be a local thing.”

“Way local,” Danny replied, leaning against the doorway of his room. Jake was examining his guitars and practice amp, Josh the small pile of books on his desk. “He was at Encinitas one day and a bunch of us just watched him at the top of the ramp. I took that photo with my phone.”

“ **You** skate vert?” Jake looked over his shoulder. “Gravity must be a bitch.”

“Not hardly!” Danny figured the best thing to do as the noob would be to laugh at himself, so he did. “I mean, I can hit a decent 180 sometimes, but that’s about it. I like the bowl way more.”

“Me too!” Sam enthused. “When you’re tall it’s hard, right?”

“ _You wish_ it was hard!” Jake snarked.

“Give it a rest already!” Josh snapped, and his brother shut up. “How long you been playing drums?” he asked.

“Like, going on four years now. I was in the jazz band at my school, but I taught myself with records and stuff before that.”

“Do you know any _real_ music?” Jake asked.

“Like _what_?!” Danny shot back. He crossed his arms over his chest, meaning to say _Look, I know you think you have to do this, but there’s a limit._

“Who are you into?”

“Bonzo, obviously. And Alex Van Halen is pretty rad, he doesn’t get too much credit, though. But Ringo, he’s my dude. Swing for _days_ , y’know?”

“Ginger Baker?”

“Aw man, he’s a monster! Mitch Mitchell too. I mean, I can’t quite play _that_ wild, but they’re awesome.”

“Okay you’re in, if you wanna. But seriously, anybody else tries to poach you, remember I called dibs.”

Jake pushed past Danny and left the house, calling out a thanks to the Wagners.

“Uh...what was _that_ , exactly?” Danny asked, and Josh and Sam grinned at him.

“You’re in, New Guy. Can you practice tomorrow?”

“Yeah I guess. I’m supposed to be studying for my permit. I already did the online class and stuff, but I can’t take the behind-the-wheel until January.”

“Oh dude I cannot _wait_ till I get my permit!” Sam exclaimed.

Danny was shocked, there was something about Sam which made him think the other was far older.

“You’re not 16 yet?”

“Not till April. I have to rely on these clowns to get around.” He jerked a thumb at Josh.

“Hey don’t look at me, you know I let Jakey do all the driving.”

“Mostly it’s our cousin Eric - he’s 21 so he takes us all around, and...other stuff.”

The last phrase was delivered _sotto voce_ with a solemn wink. Danny nodded, unsure how he was meant to respond to the information.

“Are you guys going out tomorrow?” he asked. “I haven’t listened to the surf report yet - which shop do you call?”

“Zexxy Board Sports in Redondo, that’s our hang. Eric works there. Wait, lemme call ‘im, see if he knows yet.”

“You into photography?” Josh asked, looking at the posters again. “I’m gonna go to film school, but Jake wanted me to wait till he got his music thing going.”

“Oh yeah? That’s cool. I like taking photos and stuff but I’m not, like, way into it or anything.”

“Well, they’re always wanting me to film them and stuff - so you can take photos. I mean, this is a great shot.” Josh gestured at Shaun’s epic aerial above the vert ramp at Encinitas YMCA.

“Thanks man. That was more luck than anything, but yeah, I’m down for that, I guess.”

Sam concluded his call. “Eric says it’s gonna be choppy but the sets will prolly be decent. So yeah, we’ll be there. But New Guy snags the burritos.”

“I got, like, twenty bucks on me, so that’s the limit.”

“It’s cool,” Josh said with a smile. “See you at dawn.”

Sam leaned against the wall right next to Danny. “Like, don’t mind Jake, okay? Wait till you hear him play, he’s pretty awesome.”

“Yeah, I mean, I heard earlier. He sounded like he knew what he was doing.”

“We’re kind of a joke to our school but we got a manager and everything. So I think we’ve got a shot.”

“Well, I mean _anybody’s_ got a shot these days.”

“But we can _actually play_ , dude. And I hope you can too.”

Sam patted Danny’s chest with a smile and walked out the room, with an equally polite farewell to his parents. Danny came back into the dining area and found Josh and his mom eagerly discussing their mutual love of Thai food.

“I’ll bring my mom and my sister over tomorrow, okay? They’re amazing!”

“Well sure, Josh, that would be great.”

After farewells punctuated by that dazzling smile, the family let out a collective sigh.

“Uh...Hurricane Kiszka, I’m thinking?” Josie opined.

“I like them,” Lori asserted. “Nice boys.”

“Yeah they surf too, so we’ll all be out there,” Danny noted and his dad nodded.

“Well I guess we won’t have to feel too lonely now. That’s nice, right?”

“Dad,” Josie said, giving their father a stern look. “We promised we wouldn’t be all whiny and stuff but just remember that this situation is **not** ideal.”

“I know, JoJo - you’re in a whole new place _and_ it’s Christmas, but maybe you’ll like their sister.”

“She’s, like, a Senior. She won’t wanna hang out with a goofy Freshman like me.”

“When you’re right, you’re right,” Danny teased and Josie stuck out her tongue at him.

“Daniel, be nice!” Lori scolded. “You never know, Jo - you might be the little sister she’s always wanted.”

Danny bit his lip, thinking about it. He and Sam were maybe too close in age for that kind of relationship but even so he had the feeling that the other would always act like he was older and wiser...maybe he had to, just to survive in their family. But they seemed pretty close, like they did everything together. That was definitely going to be interesting to experience.

“Aww man, I didn’t get anybody’s digits. I better go over there,” Danny said, rising from the table.

“Oh here, hon - Josh gave me their landline,” Lori rejoined, holding out a piece of paper. Danny keyed the number into his phone and hit the call button. The phone rang, continued to ring as he made his way back to his room. Ringing still as he sorted through a box of clothes next to his bed. Finally it was answered by a male voice he didn’t recognize.

“‘Lo?”

“Hi, may I talk to Sam please? It’s Danny, from down the street.”

“Whoa, New Guy! This is Cuz.”

 _Huh?_ Then his brain engaged. “Eric?”

“Yeah brah, what’s up? Everybody’s out back right now, you want me to go get ‘im?”

“I thought I should have his cell, just in case.”

“Yeah okay.” The other rattled off the number and Danny hurriedly wrote it down.

“Thanks dude.”

“No problemo mi hermano! If you wanna sneak over later it’s cool. Havin’ a chill sesh, y’know.”

“Oh okay. Prolly not just cuz I’m gonna paddle out, y’know.”

“Yeah whatevs - see ya on the line.”

Danny looked at the screen and shook his head - their cousin certainly sounded like every soul surfer stereotype he could think of, despite Jake’s protestations. But he got it, people usually projected what they saw on the inside rather than who they really were, until you got to know them.

His dad rapped on the door. “Here’s your house keys, bud,” he said, handing Danny two keys on a keychain with a painted enamel square fob. _Life is a beautiful ride_ , it read, displaying a wooden longboard planted in the sand, blue ocean in the background. “Remember to lock up when you go out.”

“Thanks Dad,” he said but his glance was wistful. This was a very different place, he reminded himself.


	3. a day in the life (front and back)

“Don’t you ever wish you could live a day backwards?” Danny asked.

“Are you _high_ right now, Wagner?” Sam countered.

“Not unless you guys dosed me or something.”

“Oh yeah - like we’d **do** that. Like we wouldn’t just take the shit _ourselves_.”

Sam cackled at the thought of wasting drugs on the unwitting or the unwilling.

They were lying on the floor in Danny’s room, Sam continuing to marvel at the new carpet and plush padding - “It’s nicer than a bed, even!” - listening to a Pat Metheny album on Danny’s stereo. And the circumstances of how they had ended up there comprised one of the most action-packed days of his life.

_Is this how it is from now on? I don’t think I’m ready!_

He couldn’t admit that, though. And he didn’t think he could make a convincing case for slowing down the Kiszka juggernaut. It’s not that he really wanted to, this was the most exciting experience, just being around them meant that anything might happen at any time. Not chaotic or violent - or not _entirely_ , anyway - just that his three new brother-bandmates were restless, curious, and continually in motion. Even now, Sam played air bass along with Jaco Pastorius as side one of _Bright Size Life_ filled the room with mellow airy tones. Earlier they had given Jaco’s first album a spin.

“The harmonics!” Sam exclaimed like it was a miracle. “So fuckin’ sick!” The expression of **a** god, at least, Danny figured. A fallen one, but no less divine. “I mean - wait, do you even _know_ what a harmonic is?’

“Yeah,” Danny replied, forcing himself not to roll his eyes. He thought maybe Sam was usually the smartest one in the room so he had just started assuming it all the time. “I mean, I don’t really play bass but I was in Jazz Band for nearly two years, so I learned about all that stuff.”

“Okay, yeah. Fuck I really wanna do that, y’know? Be totally fluid.”

“You could, I mean, look at your hands. You’ve totally got the right hands for fusion.”

Sam held up his large long-fingered hands. “Mom says I’ve got the hands for keys, and she’s not wrong or anything, but I wanna fuckin’ **rip** on bass, dude.”

They fell silent, a comforting blanket they shared in this moment.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean you don’t _really_ play bass?”

“Yeah, I mean, I kinda picked it up but I haven’t really, like, _worked_ at it or anything.”

“You _need_ to be our drummer, okay? Please, dude. We haven’t had a drummer for nearly a year now. Whenever we’ve played a gig we just borrow somebody from another band and it’s like trying to fuck some random girl, like you don’t even know what she’s about.”

 _And you know what **that’s** like?_ he thought. He figured Sam probably didn’t know either, but he was going to make the analogy fit anyway.

“Yeah dude, I’m on it, seriously.”

“It’s so rad your dad has all these records. I’d check stuff out of the library sometimes, but nobody likes jazz. If it ain’t blues or rock, it’s not gettin’ played in our house.”

“We like all kinds of stuff. My mom says it’s important to have a full musical palette.”

“You mean palate or palette?”

“Huh, I didn’t even think about that.” Danny giggled. “Prolly both.”

Danny awoke at five, twitching with excitement and also relieved that he was getting to surf again - it had been over a week since his farewell session at Swami’s. He logged into Surfline and checked the stats again, debating about whether he should board it over. He thought the route to The Strand would be well-lit but unless you totally knew your neighborhood, skating in the dark was a rookie mistake. Nope, nothing for it but to hoof it.

Pre-dawn was chilly but it was warmer here in L.A., he had to remind himself of that. He pulled on jeans and a hoodie over his rashee and jams, wrapping his springsuit and towel around his stick and securing them and his leash with a bungee cord. This was followed by his most thrashed pair of running shoes and an acid green neoprene lanyard with a waterproof pouch for whatever he didn’t want to leave on the beach. He pulled his hair into a full pony with a Longhairs tie, giving his mom another silent _thank you_ for finding these godsends of hair style technology. His hair was so thick and wavy it was difficult to find a hair tie which could hold it back and let him focus on surfing or skating or drumming or whatever he was doing at the moment. He grabbed an extra one, thinking he would give it to Sam to try - his new bandmate’s hair was longer than his and just about as thick.

The sky was starting to fade back to blue, but the streetlights were still on. Danny stood on the porch after locking the door, hearing the traffic from Rosecrans Avenue - probably people driving to the airport. His dad said that the 405 freeway was jammed at all hours because of airport traffic. He walked in the direction of the _shoosh_ of cars, wondering if the Kiszkas were all still asleep. Once he made it to the main thoroughfare it was a straight line down to The Strand, a promenade which fronted all the local beaches in the area. From there he could walk right over to El Porto, and hopefully sunrise would be showing itself by the time he reached it. He knew the cops generally tolerated the Dawn Patrol, but not _too_ early. 

It was a peaceful feeling, pre-dawn, so quiet save the passing cars, and he took some time to familiarize himself with the route so that next time he _could_ skate if he felt like it - and there was a place to stash stuff. At his old local break they were never out on the line at the same time, someone always sat on guard duty. As long as everyone got wet they never seemed to mind taking turns. He wondered if it worked the same here, or if it was every dog for himself.

Coming onto The Strand he took a deep breath of ocean air and grinned. This was _definitely_ going to agree with him, being able to walk to the beach. In the old neighborhood his dad always drove him, as they lived on the inland side of town. He had biked a few times, but never with his stick, it was too far and hilly besides.

Danny was coming up on the signs for the beach, noting that the parking lot opened at 6:15, when a couple skaters with sticks passed in front of him and he stopped short, startled.

“Wake up, new fish!” one of them called out, and it didn’t sound like any of his bandmates. He hoped the hazing wouldn’t be too brutal.

_Oh well, here goes nothing._

Through the break in the retaining wall and out onto the sand where a small group was already gathered, guys stretched their limbs with sticks and boards next to them, clothes and shoes scattered where they’d been shed. Danny searched for the brothers but it wasn’t quite light enough to make out specific faces.

“What’s your business, squid?” one of them called to him.

“I’m Danny, I just moved to...uh, what’s that neighborhood called?”

“He lives on our street,” Sam responded from over his shoulder. “Don’t be a dick, Whitney.”

“Well fuck Sammy, you didn’t tell us to expect a grom or anything!”

“Not a grommet,” Danny protested, feeling a little more secure in the situation with Sam gripping his shoulder. “I’ll take new fish all day, but I’m gonna be 16 in, like, a week.”

“Dude, seriously? We gotta throw you a party!”

“Any excuse for a party, right?” Danny cracked, but with a smile.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Stragglers!” Jake called out, walking onto the beach already in his wetsuit with his stick under his arm. “Why is no one on the break?”

“Damn _ese_ , it ain’t even orange yet!” another kid protested. Danny could see this dude was short, with dark hair in the traditional skater style of shaved sides and long on top. A shock of blond, or maybe bleach-white, hung down on his forehead.

“It’s 6:25, fuck’s sake!”

“That’s Stevie, he’s our local color,” Sam joked, and the other flipped him off. “Announcement, my dudes, this is our drummer Danny and if anyone fucks with him you’ll have to suffer _both_ of us on your asses.”

“ _Finally_ you got a drummer. He must have no idea how heinous you sound,” came another voice, its' owner standing to a height equal to that of Danny and Sam, long-limbed and long-haired. He walked up and Danny was momentarily stunned. The dude looked so _familiar_ somehow even in the dim light of near-sunrise. Attractive in a way which made you think he might be famous.

“This is Kai Fyre, also known as That Asshole. As in, people usually ask: _Who is **that** asshole?_ ”

“New fish, you think you surf, huh?”

“I’m from Encinitas, so _I know_ I do.”

Catcalls louder than the surf traveled through the air.

“Okay okay, just checkin.’ But it’s your first time on our wave, so don’t be a snake.”

“Seriously Kai, this isn’t Lunana Bay,” Josh sniped, attired much the same as Jake, but also with a camera bag strapped across his chest. “Get a fucking grip.”

“Oh my god your dad is -” Danny blurted out and was answered with a raised hand.

“Yeah dude, _I know_.” Kai smirked, parroting Danny’s emboldened emphasis right back at him.

“Less bullshit, more waves!” Jake exhorted, walking into the surf.

“New fish sits out first paddle,” Whitney proclaimed, and with the growing light Danny could see that he was also a tall blond, his shoulder-length hair absolutely straight as if he had ironed it.

“Bullshit!” Sam responded.

“Hey man, I don’t make the rules.” He approached the water beside Kai and the two of them also looked like they could have been brothers.

“Are they related?” Danny asked Sam.

“You’d think so, right? But no, they’re both just fucktards in their own special way.”

“Tribe!” came a hail and this time Danny did recognize the voice. “Got some heady burritos for my little banditos!”

Danny turned to see _another_ blond - and he swore that not even his old break had this many towheads - coming onto the beach, but the guy looked more stoner than surfer. His sandy hair was a tousle of waves falling just below his shoulders and his boyish face bore a few days’ growth in the same general shade.

“EK - why’dnt you stop wit your corny ass, dog?” Stevie groused but gave him a fistbump.

“Your cousin?” Danny inquired.

“There can only be one,” Josh responded with an affectionate eyeroll.

Eric offered to sit out the first session so Danny got his spot in the Dawn Patrol, and the sight of the sky glowing pink, orange and gold behind the city skyline, high-rises glistening in the light of a new day, was as gorgeous a view as any - he could have sat there all morning, in fact, bobbing in the surf. The others comported themselves well, with Josh being the only one who wiped out on his run. But soon enough Danny was razzed to prove himself and caught a three-footer, managing to carve a bit before it collapsed. Not his best, but definitely not shoob material.

“Whaddya know, the squid can surf after all,” Kai snarked, then paddled out to the next set of swells gathering at the break.

“What is his deal?” Danny asked Sam. “I mean, the dude’s, like, surf royalty, why’s he so angry?”

Sam looked over at the break, as Kai duck-dove an oncoming wave. “Kai is **not** special. His family is. But there’s a lotta pressure on him to be the next big thing. Like. he was livin’ with his grandma in Malibu, just chillin,’ and suddenly his dad’s all, ‘Nope, you’re gonna live with me and train every day’ and he’s **hating** life right now. Did you know his grandpa was, like, a total Yoda to the skaters back in the day?”

“Wasn’t he a pro surfer too, though?”

“Yeah but he was also one of the first dudes to skate a pool. Like, in the ‘60s!”

“No way!”

“Grommets!” Jake yelled at them from the break. “There’s this thing called surfing, you might wanna try it!”

“This grom is gonna smoke your ass, Jakey!”

“Paddle over here and say that, kid.”

Danny kept pace with Sam back to the break, smiling to himself.


	4. the important questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine most aren't apt to notice, but I take a few tiny liberties with general chronology here.

“So where do you guys skate around here?” Danny asked once they were back on shore, eagerly tearing into the breakfast burritos Eric had brought. Danny had offered to pay for them, but Eric smilingly declined, declaring: “I’ll catch ya on the flip-side, brah.”

Danny was beginning to understand why Stevie had called him _corny_.

“On the street, the way God intended,” Jake replied. “Eric, why did you forget the salsa _again_? Damn dude, you had **one** job!”

“I wasn’t even _half_ awake, Jakey,” came the laconic reply.

“Yeah I’mma start packin’ my own, homes,” Stevie teased. “Mi abuela makes it killer.”

“And that’s another thing,” Jake continued, “she said I could have the recipe, but you haven’t brought it.”

“Man, you tricked her or some shit,” Stevie shot back, provoking laughs from the crowd.

“Nuh-uh, she said she **loved** my guisado con pollo!”

“Man, why you gotta bag on Jakey’s cooking? You know he’s good!” Sam protested.

“Iss a’ight.”

Danny loved the rhythms of their speech, not what they were saying, necessarily, but all the nuances of their voices demonstrated their deep bond. He figured they had all known each other since they were little kids - those actually related notwithstanding. He just sat back and soaked it in: satisfying as grub after a Dawn Patrol session.

“Do you guys go to Alondra? I knew a guy who used to skate there on the regular, his grandpa lived in Torrance, I guess?”

Josh shrugged. “I mean, it’s okay but just like most places it can get kinda sketch. It depends on who shows up. Like, if it’s just kids who wanna grind then it’s cool. But sometimes you get the creepy dudes.”

“Yeah, the dudes who rolled in from Echo Park or whatever,” Sam noted.

“Doncha be dissin’ my turf!” Stevie protested and everyone save Danny buried him in a hail of groans and derisive noises.

“Don’t even start with that bullshit again, Stevie!” Kai exclaimed. “You ain’t from no Echo Park, you were born in fuckin’ ‘Zona, you poseur!”

“Yeah why you gotta front, Steve-o,” Eric asked him. “Man, you should be proud you’re from the Land of Enchantment.”

“That’s fuckin’ _New Mexico_ , dude!” Stevie cried, giving the other an _Are you fucking kidding me?_ look.

Stevie reminded Danny of the Mexican dudes he knew back home, the ones who skated and surfed, but a little more punk rock with his eye-catching coif and the long-style plaid bondage shorts he wore to surf in, criss-crossed with zippers and strung with D-rings.

“It’s _all_ the desert, homes, and that’s a mystical place for sure.”

As if on cue the others yelled “So fuckin’ corny!” Eric shrugged and took another bite of his burrito.

“What, pavement ain’t good enough for you?” Whitney gibed, but his blue eyes had lost their suspicious cast.

“It’s cool, I just like a good bowl sesh - that’s what we used to do most of the time. The street I lived on wasn’t ideal. It had this, like, real chunky blacktop? You could get hung up way easy, grate your ass like some cheese.”

“Shred city, huh?” Sam said with a grin.

“ _Brutal_ ,” Danny affirmed, widening his eyes.

The day grew warmer and glaring by degrees as the cloud cover moved onshore, revealing a pale blue horizon before them. The beach became crowded, other surfers came to claim the break and families laid claim to stretches of sand. The seagulls wheeled overhead, Danny watched pelicans flying low further out, searching for fish. Every so often a jet would roar above, taking off over the ocean and then banking left or right depending on the destination. Danny looked around at the others and they were doing the same, watching the scene. It gave him a chance to examine this clique he found himself a part of without them noticing.

Whitney, with hair like spun straw and a square-jawed face which made him look serious even when he wasn’t trying to be. Kai, who was _gorgeous_ \- hell, anyone could admit that, you didn’t even have to be bi-curious or anything just to know it. Blue-grey eyes, blond like he’d stepped out of an ad for expensive hair care, and a perfect face - his mom must have been a model or something, Danny reasoned. And even with the brothers facing away from him, he could tell they were related - their hair, although in different styles, was all the same deep brown-red with a golden cast, likely from all the time spent in sun and sea, and wavy, curling at the ends, or in Josh’s case because his hair was the shortest, long loose curls like a lion’s mane.

Eric did possess some family resemblance, mainly in the way he smiled. He and his cousins all flashed dazzling grins, which probably got them out of any number of sticky situations. But his overgrown wavy mop was a patchwork of shades of blond: from sun-kissed to full-on sunbleached to more of an ash blond underneath. His eyes were the color of well-worn denim, a definite contrast to his cousins’ amber-brown. His skin was a bit more weathered with a stripe of pink along the length of his nose. A nature boy for sure - Danny thought Eric would have been at home in the woods rather than by the ocean, there was a vibe about him which was way more earth than water.

Stevie was on his left, so difficult to observe him although he was interesting to look at. Danny could tell he wanted to be noticed. He had known kids like that, who wanted to stand out and express themselves through their appearance. But Stevie wasn’t demanding that you look, just that when you did then you understood what he was about. Because he was short - maybe even shorter than Josh - he was probably broadcasting a warning of sorts. _You don’t fuck with me, I won’t fuck with you._ Danny thought he had soulful eyes, round and deep-set, a shade of brown so intense it looked almost black.

“So where would you wanna skate?” Danny asked them, “If you could go anywhere?”

“Kai’s **been** everywhere, pretty much,” Whitney said, “so it’s not a fair question for him. Me, I wanna go to Vancouver ‘cause I heard it’s a rad town for skaters.”

“Yeah it’s pretty chill up there,” Kai affirmed. “Like Portland, but in Canada.”

Josh shrugged. “Somewhere I could get interesting footage, I guess.”

Stevie grinned. “NYC, baby! I wanna roll around Times Square.”

“It’s like Disneyland now, dude,” Kai said, rolling his eyes. “Total theme park assimilation.”

“Yeah,” Danny chimed in. “I went on a class trip last year and it was cool, but, like, so touristy.”

“If I’m traveling it’s gonna be ‘cause of music, so I don’t care,” Jake opined.

“Eric’s gonna take me to Denver sometime, huh?” Sam said, grinning at his cousin.

“You know it, Sam-a-lama! Way heady rides all day every day.”

“And you, squid?” Kai asked Danny, the inquiry yet another delving taunt.

“Uh...either Woodward West or Burnside.”

“Okay, Burnside is way overrated if you ask me. Woodward is cool but it’s in the middle of freakin’ nowhere. The _Chin_ ramp is pretty sick, though.”

“You’ve skated it?”

“Not me, my dad. I suck at vert.”

Danny figured Kai made the admission just to spare himself further humiliation, as he would get called out for embellishing the truth otherwise. The others knew him too well.

“How’d he do?”

“Not bad for an old dude. I mean, not bad for someone who’s old but **not** Tony Hawk, I guess.”

“I guess you’ve seen all those guys, New Fish?” Whitney probed, his eyes narrowing.

“Shaun White skates Encinitas sometimes. I’ve seen, like, Boom Boom HuckJam and stuff, local demos, shit like that. But I’ve never, like, met any of the famous skaters or anything.”

For this response he received a shrug.

“So what’s your favorite spot, Kai?”

The other also shrugged. “Like, I just wanna go back to Hawaii and skate. My gramps has a place on Oahu, I almost got sponsored by 808 Skate when we lived there, but then my dad had to come back to the mainland to deal with some legal bullshit, and we never left.”

“You can’t just live there with your grandpa?”

“Gramps said he doesn’t want my dad slacking on his parental responsibilities. I told him that actually living with my dad doesn’t make him a better parent, but whatever.”

“Well you’re gonna be 18 in a couple months, then you can get your own place,” Josh pointed out.

“Nuh-uh - Gram already told me I don’t get my trust fund till I turn 21. I mean, I guess if I sign with somebody then I can.”

“You’ll totally get signed!” Jake exclaimed. “How could you not?!”

“You don’t get it. _I know that._ But I don’t want people sayin' I got signed just ‘cause I’m Logan Fyre’s son, or Preston Fyre’s grandson. And I’m never gonna be as good as they are!”

Whitney cleared his throat. Kai looked over at him as Whitney tilted his head towards Danny.

“New Fish, you’re not gonna blab on the Internet about me, are ya?”

“No! One, I don’t belong to any message boards or shit like that. Hell, I barely post on Instagram. Two, why should I give a fuck _what_ you do with your career or whatever?”

Danny met those storm-cloud eyes with unwavering focus. After a few seconds the other smirked at him.

“Good answer, New Fish. It’s nobody’s fuckin’ business _what_ I do.”

“Yeah, like I said.”

“Okay, shut up while you’re ahead, dude.”

Danny rolled his eyes, looking over at Sam who gave him a wink.

“Brahs, I gotta love ya and leave ya, the shop awaits. You still grillin’ tonight, Jakey?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna rehearse but then Mom said we’d grill - you guys can come over if you want.” This last was directed at Danny.

“Cool, yeah I’m down for that,” Danny enthused, thankful that Jake seemed to have changed tack and accepted him now. He assumed the other knew the crew would do the job for him.

“Alright my brothers from an adjacent mother, I will peep you later. Remember now and don't forget: sling it and swing it, y’all.”

Eric rose to his feet, pulled on a Baja hoodie over his rashee and board shorts, and walked out toward the parking lot, waving a hand behind him.

“Kai, can you give me a ride home?” Stevie asked. “My cousin Hector’s still got my truck.”

“Got it where?” the other countered.

“He’s in Hemet, I think. I don’t know when he’s comin’ back.”

“Damn son, you’d better tell him you need your wheels!”

“Yeah that usually don’t go so good.”

“C’mon then, let’s roll. I might come over later too,” Kai said to the Kiszkas.

“On one condition - you can’t call Danny new fish anymore, ‘kay?”

“Damn Sam, you’re way more sensitive about it than he is!”

“He’s my drummer, man, I gotta have his back.”

“New Fish, you all broke up inside 'bout bein' a squid, huh? Feelin’ sad ‘cause you suck so bad?”

“It’s just _killing me_ ,” Danny deadpanned, then everyone laughed.

Kai gave him what Danny thought was probably the most genuine smile he was capable of at that moment.

“I guess I can manage that. _Maybe_.”

Danny shrugged. “I’m here to stay, so - get used to it, I guess.”

Sam put an arm around Danny's neck and whispered in his ear.

“You are _totally_ my best friend now - I have never seen anybody other than us stand up to Kai like that.”

“It’s like you said, I guess - he’s **hating** life right now. So maybe he doesn’t have to, if somebody can just treat him like a person.”

Sam’s look was surprised but also impressed, and Danny felt a delicious shiver go through him at the sight.


	5. Roll On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter employs the same moving back-and-forth in time effect as chapter three.

So late it was early, Danny’s mom entering his room and kindly requesting Sam return to his own house, they then parted within the deeper bond they now shared, like there was a thread connecting them, expanding and contracting as needed. The two loitered on the porch, the night once again quiet save the continual murmuring of traffic beyond.

“Mom said I’ve gotta help Dad put up the lights and stuff, so no surfing tomorrow - uh, today, I mean.”

Sam shrugged. “Is she gonna let you come over and rehearse? I mean, we _gotta_ !”

“Yeah, for sure. But when she wants something done she gets kinda hardass.”

“Your mom is so nice though!”

“Oh trust me, she can be tough when she wants to.”

“Oh hey - so call the surf report line at Zexxy, just so you can hear Eric. He records it every night.”

“Oh my god, do people even understand it?”

Sam laughed, his friend had already memorized the sound and it made him smile in turn.

“It’s, like, so Eric for sure, but he gives the deets. He takes it way serious, actually. It’s hilarious, ‘cause that’s just him, but totally informative.”

Danny nodded. “I will. Later, bud.”

“Much!” Sam responded, raising his eyebrows and grinning.

Danny watched Sam walk back to his house, opening the gate to the backyard, stooping to pet the Kizkas’ dogs swarming his long legs. Sam turned and waved to Danny before closing the gate behind him.

How could he _possibly_ sleep after all that had happened? It was just too much for his brain to process. After locking the front door once inside he returned to his room and looked up the Zexxy Board Sports website. The front page had a banner towards the bottom labeled _EK’s Shackatastic Surf Report_ followed by a phone number. Danny dialed it as he quietly closed the door, fully prepared to crack up.

The message began with a bit of surf-sounding guitar, and Danny wondered if that was Jake’s contribution.

“Good evening people of planet Earth, children of Gaia and Panthalassa! Hello to all my dudes and dudettes, guys, gals and non-binary pals, EK here to bring you the always epic Shackatastic Surf Report, sponsored by Zexxy Board Sports located in bitchin’ Redondo Beach, Cali-for-ni-a! This installment is for December 22nd if you believe in the linear progression of Time. Speakin’ of time, Christmas is comin’ kiddies, hope y’all are on Santa’s Oh So Nice List, but even if you’re not you can come on down to Zexxy and buy _yourself_ somethin’ nice. Hell, buy yourself somethin’ naughty and that way you get **two** presents! Now here’s the lowdown hoedown on all of the South Bay action for Sunday funday -”

Danny considered hanging up just because if the forecast was good for El Porto he’d be bumming too hard at knowing he had to stay home. But he wanted to be truthful when asked if he’d honored Sam’s request.

“ - and there you have it, my friends. Magic Eight-Ball sez: it’s okay to chill at home base, but if you're feelin’ adventurous, then grab your stick and come get you a lick! Be kind to your tribe and to our beautiful mother, and always remember, never forget: stay stoked and go for broke! Nighty-night, y’all.”

Danny hit the End button, snickering. That family was such a trip, but Eric was an entire _journey_.

He had barely entered the house after putting his gear in the garage to dry out, smiling but feeling a little caught off-guard at the sight of the female Kiszkas sitting at their dining table.

_Now I get why they’re all so cute._

One look at their mom told him that every one of her kids had inherited her beautiful smile and bright eyes plus the same thick wavy deep brown-red hair. He was saying how nice it was to meet Karen and Ronnie when he heard the front door open, thinking his Dad had been outside for some reason, but instead heard “Mom! There’s, like, no juice left!”

Jake appeared, still in his wetsuit and looking perturbed.

“Jacob Thomas, did you just walk into this house where you do not live without even knocking?!” his mother demanded to know.

“It’s okay, Mom, they, like, know who we are and everything. And Dad said you were here.”

Lori gave her new friend and neighbor a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “So we’ve each got more kids now, right? I’m used to that.”

Karen snorted and rolled her eyes, but her smile was playful. “Oh but I’ve got _twice_ as many as you - my three boys will eat you out of house and home after they’ve laid waste to our place, so watch out!”

“We’ll make it so that if they wanna eat here they have to cook for us,” Danny suggested with a grin. 

Jake nodded, looking pleased. “Have you got a Cuisinart? I’ve always wanted to use one.”

Lori’s eyes widened. “You can **cook**? Oh my god can you teach Danny?!”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Wagner, we’ll make a rad dude out of him yet.”

Ronnie rolled her eyes and nudged Josie. “Jakey thinks he’s the coolest dude in LV.”

“Oh that’s it - Liberty Village! I was tryin’ to remember earlier,” Danny exclaimed.

“Hey, I’m the coolest dude in the South Bay for sure. But I don’t, like, go ‘round proclaimin’ it or nothin.’” Jake assured them.

“Oh no, you’re sooooo modest,” Ronnie teased and Jake gave her a _Watch it!_ Look.

“Well Jake, we’ve got oj, grape juice and some lemonade, if you’d like. Just don’t drink Mr. Wagner’s iced tea, though, he’s very particular about that. Danny, why don’t you give Jake some juice, okay?”

“Yeah dude - what’ll ya have?”

“Whatever you’re havin’ is fine, man.”

Danny poured them each a glass of lemonade, Josie and Ronnie escaped to Josie’s room, discussing their favorite things as they stepped into the hallway.

“Is your sister into Fleetwood Mac?” Jake asked.

“Oh yeah. I mean, we all like them, but she’s, like, _totally_ into them.”

“Ronnie must be so stoked right now, then. She literally wants to talk 'bout nothin’ but scuba and Stevie Nicks.”

“Do you guys dive too? My dad said I could try it if I wanted, but I was all into surfing. I guess it’s a pretty expensive hobby, though.”

“Just Ronnie - she’s been doin’ it since she was 12. Eric is actually a divemaster too, he got her into it. She wants to go to this school in Hawaii next year to learn all the advanced stuff. She goes to a dive camp on Catalina every summer for two weeks.”

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool. Has she seen a lot of gray suits?”

“Just a couple times, off the Channel Islands. None around here, thank god.”

“Yeah I’d totally freak out for sure if it happened.”

“Okay no more talk about sharks please!” Karen commanded. “Us moms are trying to have a nice normal conversation, thank you.”

“Daniel, you need to go take a shower. Dad said he wanted you to come to Home Depot with him.”

“Come over as soon as you can, ‘kay?” Jake murmured. “Sammy will help carry your drums.”

“For sure - later, Jakey.”

Jake raised his glass with a smile and looked completely at home, like he might start rummaging in the fridge next. Danny smirked and shook his head as he entered the bathroom.

The store was full of people doing last-minute gift shopping, buying extension cords and extra bulbs for their Christmas lights, but Danny was pondering an entirely different kind of hardware.

“Dad?”

“Yeah bud?” Dan answered, squinting at the printing on boxes of outdoor lights. “Hey, does this say 34 or 48-count?”

Danny shook his head. “48 - why don’t you have your glasses?”

“I forget ‘em in the truck. Oh, we need a new ladder too. One of those sweet fiberglass jobbies.”

“Aren’t they in the back? I feel like it’s gonna take forever just to get over there.”

“You in a hurry or something?”

“Uh, we’re gonna rehearse. And Jake said we can come over for dinner, they’re gonna grill.”

“Well that’s nice of him, but maybe you should check with his mom first.”

“Oh she knows - but he’s the one cookin!’”

“Oh yeah? We’ll have to compare techniques.”

Danny chortled. “Hey so, I really need a new throw-off for my snare. _Please_.”

His father sighed as they moved down the aisle, dodging other shoppers. “How much?”

“It’s, like, 80 bucks.”

“And you **have** to have it?”

“Yeah, it holds the drum in place so it can vibrate at the right frequency. It’s, like, _crucial_.”

“Well, you’re getting gift cards from everybody, so spend it how you like.”

“Christmas _and_ my birthday?”

“You don’t want a party? That was going to be your gift.”

Dan asked a clerk where the ladders were, the young woman pointed to the other end of the store. Danny groaned. She stated they would be given a voucher for the model they wanted, then they had to drive around back to pick it up after paying for it up front.

“Dad, we can borrow a ladder from the Kiszkas!”

“That’s not the kind of thing you do so early in a residential relationship.”

Danny willed himself not to roll his eyes. He acknowledged his dad knew a lot about social mores but he could still be _so annoying_ sometimes.

“Sam said he would throw me a party.”

“Did he? How can it be _your_ party if you don’t know anybody?”

“I know _them_. And their crew.”

They reached the ladder section and Dan took his time mulling over the models on display.

“Well, if we don’t throw you a party or take you out somewhere, then I suppose we could afford to get you your drum thingie.”

“Yes!” Danny exclaimed, arms raised triumphantly. “Thank you!”

“Now that is the first genuinely happy expression I’ve seen you make since we got here.”

“Well, you know, it was all, like, _a lot_.”

“And now?”

“It’s okay,” Danny replied with a smile, but that was all he was going to say.

Sam must have been watching for their return, Danny noticed him loping to the other side of the street as soon as they pulled into the driveway.

“Here’s your BFF now,” Dan quipped, letting himself out of the truck.

“Need help with anything?” Sam asked with a smile. “Hi, Mr. Wagner.”

“Hello Sam. If you and Danny want to put all that stuff in the garage for now, then you can go have your jam session.”

“Dad!” Danny exclaimed, feeling himself blush. “Don’t be corny!”

“I didn’t know that phrase was out of fashion, honestly,” Dan replied, though his expression was sardonic. He winked at Sam.

Sam laughed. “Oh we’ll _jam_ eventually, but first we gotta figure stuff out. Like, I bet Danny is way better than us.”

Dan nodded, unlocking the garage and rolling up the door. “Daniel is certainly serious about music, so I guess that depends on how serious _you_ are.”

“We’re pretty serious too,” Sam affirmed as he and Danny lifted the ladder out of the truckbed. Dan saluted the two then retreated to the house.

After they unloaded the truck, Danny motioned to a pile of drum cases and a large gear box.

“Thar she blows,” he said. “Wish we had a handcart or something.”

“We can carry your bass drum between us. Is the floor tom heavy?”

“Nah, I can get that. But yeah, let’s lug the smaller stuff first.”

“Nice cases! I was thinkin’ that yesterday when I saw ‘em.”

“My grandparents got ‘em for me. It was my cousin’s kit to begin with, but it’s a little nicer now. My music teacher, Mr. Fremer, he sold me his Supralite for way cheap.”

“You like Ludwigs?”

“Yepper, if it’s good enough for Ringo and Bonzo it’s good enough for me! Whoops, can’t forget my rug!”

Danny pulled out a large carpet roll from behind the cases.

“Got my whole setup marked out on this thing, so I always know where to position. I can play my drums _blindfolded_ ! I usually set up pretty quick, then tune in, like, fifteen minutes.”

“Dang, it takes Jakey fifteen minutes just to decide which cab he’s gonna use!”

Danny grinned. “Picky?”

“Well, that and we never can tell what’s gonna work from one day to the next. Jake can fix anything but we’ve got some funky old gear. Temperamental, y'know?”

“Yeah.” They walked slowly towards the other house, Danny carrying his floor tom and Sam toting the snare and cymbals. “So, like, what do you guys normally play?”

“Lotta blues and classic rock. Little bit of folk. Usually people want us to play Zeppelin. I guess you know some Zeppelin?”

Danny chuckled. “I think I might.”

Jake was waiting for them in the garage, a deep red Gibson hanging on his small frame. “No offense to your dad but, like, what the hell was he doin’ at Home Depot? It’s three o’clock!”

“Yeah sorry, the store was way crowded, and he wanted to, like, buy a ladder and shit. We have to decorate the house. I guess my mom and JoJo went to get a new fake tree.”

“Fuckin’ Christmas,” Jake groused, but he was grinning.

“So, like, where do I set up?” Danny asked, and Jake pointed to a spot towards the back left corner of the garage. Danny and Sam put down their burdens and went back for more. By the time they had returned with the rest of the gear Josh had joined them, adjusting a Shure mic in a silver stand.

“Hey dude, ready to make some noise?”

“Absolutely!”

It appeared the others had prepared while waiting for Danny to return from parental obligations, and so not long after he had set up his kit they were making their first loud tentative steps towards synergy and harmony. After a few false starts, Sam sat himself behind a scarred and scuffed Hammond organ and gave his bass pedals a quick run-through.

“Okay I count off - on the three,” Jake said. The others nodded and they launched into “The Wanton Song” - not a tune you might normally start off with, but Danny figured Jake was testing him, and that was okay. And then...Josh opened his mouth. 

And fucking **wailed**.

_Silent woman in the night, you came_  
_took my seed from my shaking frame._

The sound of it caused Danny to flinch with surprise, dropping his sticks and gaping at that diminutive marvel before him, looking like almost any other guy in blue jeans and a threadbare tie-dye t-shirt.

“Holy fuck!” he exclaimed.

Josh grinned and tossed his head.

“Why thank you, dear boy,” he replied in a theatrical English accent. “Shall we try that again?”

“You could, y’know, like, warn a guy,” Danny said, visibly flustered.

“We fuckin’ **rock** , dude,” Jake proclaimed. “Get used to it!”

Sam brayed with laughter, Jake counted off, and they blasted into the stratosphere once more.


	6. An invitation not to suck

Kai was driving a white Prius, and that somehow struck Danny as _wrong_. Like the dude should be rolling in something flashier? But maybe he just wasn’t allowed.

A loose group of nearly a dozen locals had gathered in the driveway and on the dead grass to hang out and listen. Even Whitney, though he looked like he had somewhere better to be. But curiosity kills other plans, right? And so they kept on, trying to pretend they weren’t being judged as they tramped through a few Zepp tunes and some blues that Danny knew, although he had to fake his way through a couple. But a shuffle is a shuffle is a shuffle, more or less.

“D’ya know any _old_ Fleetwood Mac?” Jake inquired. “Like, ‘Green Manalishi?’”

Danny shrugged apologetically. “Nah. I could prolly play ‘Black Magic Woman,’ though.”

“Mom does like that one,” Josh observed.

“Eh, maybe. We gotta do somethin’ cool, like, unexpected.”

“I told you what we _should_ do,” Josh began, and Sam broke in with an “Uh-huh!” 

Jake grimaced. “It’s a good song but I still don’t see -”

“Why don’t you two, like, work it out?” Sam suggested, waggling a finger between his brother and Danny. “Find a way to make it heavy.”

“But how -”

“Do you mean cuz I play guitar too?” Danny asked Sam, hoping he was supporting whatever argument was being advanced.

“ _Exactly_ ,” Sam replied with a grin and Danny felt that flush again.

That smile, it was...he didn’t know if he could describe what he was feeling. Like when you ride one of those high-speed elevators and your stomach does a flip because you feel weightless for a second. When Sam smiled at him, a smile which was meant _for_ him, Danny levitated. Maybe just on the inside. Because it was special.

Kai appeared, crawling along the street, parking in front of the house beyond the Kiszka’s. _Who lived there?_ Danny wondered again. They’d told him but he’d already forgotten, his head too full of music and the low-simmering buzz of interest surrounding them, just four dudes in a garage. But there was something about the way Josh and Jake carried themselves in this context, this activity...they were assured in their appeal, Danny thought. People would definitely pay attention and they just knew it.

But also so very interesting the way Kai was acknowledged but not fawned over. He strolled up, wearing faded cargo shorts and a Hawaiian Island Creations t-shirt, battered flip flops in a glaring shade of turquoise, and everyone just gave him the _‘Sup_ nod, where you gesture with your chin at whoever.

_So...he’s **not** the rock star in this crowd. Okay then._

“What’d I miss?” he asked and Whitney snarked “Not much.”

“Don’t be a dick, Whitney,” the Kiszkas replied en masse and Danny figured the other’s sarcasm was so frequent they didn’t even have to practice their reply.

“What? You guys are fuckin’ around. Like, give us what we came for.”

“Dang dude, Danny just fuckin’ got here, okay? He doesn’t even know the song yet!” Jake protested.

“What song?” Danny asked, though he figured it was a complicated answer because that song may not be the other song referred to just moments before.

“Our magnum opus,” Josh replied, his grin crooking into a smirk, but it looked more prideful than disparaging.

“Yeah the thing’s, like, eleven minutes long!” Sam crowed. 

“Sammy what the fuck, it’s _eight_ minutes,” Jake corrected him.

“Maybe it just _feels_ like eleven,” Kai teased, and a few of the others chuckled.

“Keep it up and I won’t be feeding you, asshole,” Jake shot back. They flipped each other off and Jake looked over at Danny.

“'Immigrant Song,'” he murmured.

“Jakey,” Josh piped up, his voice full of warning. “Remember what happened the last time we played that?”

“Fuck it - they wanna be impressed? Then let’s fucking _impress_ them.”

His brothers shrugged and they launched into it, visibly startling everyone with the song's thundering gallop. Josh let loose with that famous cry and Danny felt goosebumps. It didn’t take long - they reached the first refrain and the neighbors were coming out of their houses, phones in hand. But they only had to suffer for two minutes and 26 seconds. When they finished, though not as cleanly as their bandleader would have preferred, Jake stepped out to the driveway.

“Okay, no need to call the cops, we’ll turn it down!”

“You better go _unplugged_ , Kiszka! I’m tryin’ to watch a game!” an older man yelled from directly across the street.

“Sorry Mr. Monroe, for real. We’ll keep it down.”

Their neighbor waved a dismissive hand and retreated, the sounds of a Univision _futbol_ broadcast spilling out, punctuated by a loud **GOOOOOOAL!** His final response came in the form of a percussive slam of the front door, band and audience alike were silent for a few moments.

“How can he even _hear_ us over **that**?!” Sam exclaimed.

Jake grinned and pointed to Danny. “You have definitely got the thump, New Guy.”

Danny flushed and gave a little shrug. “I like to hit hard.”

An honest-to-God vintage Marina Blue VW Squareback with two surfboards strapped to the roof pulled up and the only man who could possibly be driving such a throwback climbed out, tie-dye Steal Your Face shirt, tribal-patterned board shorts, tangled hair and blissful grin ever-present.

“What’d I miss?” Eric asked. “Did someone call the po-po again?”

Kai had thoughtfully brought over a case of Mexican Pepsi, so Jake forgave his earlier snark.

“Um yeah...so I gotta question,” he said. Sam helped Danny dismantle the kit and return the pieces to their cases. Josh and Jake sat in low-slung lawn chairs, Jake strummed a Martin acoustic which had seen kinder, more better-tuned days.

“Oh I’m not likin’ this,” Sam said, though he didn’t look over at the others.

“Fuck off, Sammy, I’m not talkin’ to you.”

“Stop!” Jake admonished. “And that question is?”

“Gram said she’ll throw a New Year’s Eve party at the house and she was gonna have a DJ but me and Kimber said we should have a band.”

“Kimber?” Josh asked.

“Dad’s new girlfriend. Well, not _new_ new, but kinda new. She’s okay. Anyway, I told Gram I could get a band she didn’t have to pay, except for the gas. But, you know, like, we do it up right so all you can eat and drink and stuff.”

“Can we sleep over?” Jake asked. “And surf in the morning?”

Kai shrugged. “Yeah I guess, depending on who else is there. I guess you guys can sleep in my room. But that break by her, dude, it’s pretty rough. I always go over to Little Dume.”

“Yeah okay, but you better be serious about the gas, man. We’re gonna have to take at least two cars.”

“What happened to that microbus you guys had?”

“It was actually Eric’s - he traded it to some dude for a ‘71 Land Cruiser.”

“No shit? Damn, I’d like to see that.”

“It doesn’t run yet. But we’re workin’ on it. Anyway, like, upfront money is what I mean.”

“Yeah fine, I’ll get you, like, eighty bucks?”

“You’d better,” Jake replied with a decisive nod and the negotiations came to an end.

Danny waited until they were across the street before voicing his doubts to the other half of the rhythm section.

“I dunno if my parents would let me go."

“Look, my mom can come and explain it to them. His grandma has a friggin’ compound in the ‘Bu. Like, serious rich people shit. They can even come to the party if they want. It’s, like, the older surfer crowd, nothin’ crazy. We’ve been there lotsa times. It's nice, kinda like a fancy resort.”

“But that’s, like, in _a week_. How can we even be ready by then?”

Sam stopped him short of the Wagners,’ giving Danny his best intense stare. Danny blinked at the sight of those velvety eyes boring into him.

“Danny, didn’t you feel how _right_ it was?”

_More than you’ll ever know, Sammy._

“I mean, yeah, it was good for it being the first time we’ve played together.”

“This is our first challenge. This is an invitation to Destiny.”

Danny snorted but at the same time he knew what Sam meant. Or at least he thought he did.

“More like an invitation not to suck, so we’d better practice every day. Like, even on Christmas.”

“Do you think your parents would let us use your garage? Since your house is at the end of the street.”

“Uh...maybe?”

Danny grinned as they opened the garage and put his drums inside, thinking of Hurricane Kiszka touching down in their lives yet again.


	7. real and imagined

It was like in a movie, Danny thought, this party. Or whatever it was, a gathering at least, both families joined by Eric and Kai and the couple living on the right of the Kiszka house, who he could not recall at first. Brad and Melinda. There was something about Karen and Melinda running an Etsy shop and a stall at the Sunday swap meet, this was the main topic of discussion among the ladies. Ronnie was counseling Josie on what school was going to be like, and the brothers and their cousin were veering among a variety of topics with Kelly, his dad having been pulled into the conversation as well.

Jake grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and _asada_ \- both kinds - a feast had appeared out of nowhere, seemingly; even his mom had brought a couple side dishes. The dogs were nosing around for whatever they could beg or ground-score, Eric was plucking at an acoustic, playing along with some reggae courtesy of the stereo in the living room, tiki torches lit against the dusk giving way to full night. The wind was coming in off the ocean and everyone had pulled on hoodies and sweatshirts.

“You look just like your dad,” Kai said to him, seated on his left.

“And you don’t,” Danny replied, not meaning to be sarcastic, just factual.

“Yeah I look way more like my mom. I mean, I know from pictures and stuff. And people tell me that.”

“You don’t -” the rest of the inquiry hung in the air, unspoken.

Kai shook his head.

Desperate to switch subjects Danny blurted out, “So, like, where’s the raddest place you’ve been to? Japan, maybe?”

“Japan **is** really cool. It’s crazy, ‘cause in Tokyo there’s, like, all this modern stuff, right, and then you go a couple blocks away and it’s all from a hundred years ago. But honestly, the coolest place is Singapore.”

“Yeah? How come?”

“It’s, like, living in the future, dude. Total cyberpunk shit.”

“So it’s like _Blade Runner_?”

Kai laughed. “Well it’s not raining _all_ the time. Just, like, half the year. But seriously, anything we think is cool and high-tech now, they’re all, _oh that’s so five years ago_. It’s wild.”

Danny nodded. “That does sound wild.”

“Have you ever been out of the country?”

“We have relatives in Detroit, so we went to Toronto this one time? It was okay. And I’ve been to Mexico with my dad and his friends. Like, beyond TJ, I mean.”

“On a surf trip?”

“Yeah, we’ve gone to Ensenada a few times. And Colima.”

Dan walked over and sat down on the other side of the table. “Hey bud, we’re gonna be going in a bit, okay? But you can stay. Just remember we’re on decorating duty tomorrow.”

“Yeah okay - hey Dad, this is Kai Fyre.”

Dan’s eyes widened in recognition. “Well hey, nice to meet you Kai. Do you live around here? I thought your family lived in Malibu.” He held out a hand and Kai shook it.

“Hi Mr. Wagner. My grandma lives there. My dad has a condo on The Strand.”

“Oh nice! So you go to Mira Costa?”

“I did. I actually have enough credits to graduate already so I’m just doing online stuff till June.”

Dan nodded. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that, I would have appreciated having you in my Government class.”

“Oh wow, yeah that would have been _interesting_.” They all chuckled at the thought. “So Danny says you guys have surfed in Mexico - ever been to Oaxaca? My gramps has a place down there, La Punta is pretty crazy.”

“Ah no, never made it all the way down there. We love Colima, though. Cuyutlán is beautiful.”

“Yeah we went there once, but my dad likes it when there’s not a lot of people.”

“I would imagine so, a pro gets pretty picky about his waves, right?”

Kai snorted. “ _Totally_.”

“Well I’m going to see if I can pry your mother away from her new cabal. You take care, Kai - Merry Christmas if we don’t see you again.”

“Yeah, same to you guys, but I’m pretty sure you will.”

Danny gave Kai a sidelong glance. “Like, why didn’t you bring up the party?”

“Sammy told me not to, said Karen was gonna ask them, she’ll make it sound way more legit.”

“He said it’s not a _wild_ party.”

“Oh it’s not, not really. But surfers, y'know...they’re, like -”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Danny said, his reply weighty with innuendo.

“Oh _you know_ , New Fish? What do you know?”

“Like, I’ve been around some stuff, that’s all. But, like, nothin’ to brag about or anything.”

“Anybody who brags about shit like that is pretty lame. Your dad’s cool, though. Like, an _actual_ dad.”

_And your dad is not._

“Yeah I mean, people think he’s all strict and stuff ‘cause he’s a teacher but he’s not _that_ bad.”

“Be happy with what you got - I tell them that too, whenever they bitch about Kelly and Karen. Not a lot, but sometimes. And I’m all, ‘At least you have parents!’ And those two are even cooler than my grandparents!”

Danny didn’t know enough to make the same assessment but the way in which the brothers had referred to them earlier made him assume they were loving and indulgent and a tad permissive. Then again, Josh and Jake were 18, so old enough to know better, presumably. Or at least it was too late to rein them in now. But it seemed like they genuinely all got along and enjoyed spending time together. Danny could relate to that, was glad he didn’t have to apologize for actually loving his family. He knew too many kids who couldn’t say the same, and the memory gave him a momentary pang of depression.

“I’m sorry you don’t feel that way about your dad,” he said. “Can’t you go back to Hawaii when you turn 18? So you can live with your grandpa, I mean.”

Kai signed and shrugged, running fingers through his perfect golden hair. “Gramps thinks I need to, like, take care of my dad - and I don’t even know how I would do that! Fuck, why am I even telling you this?”

Danny shrugged in turn, feeling his face go hot. Empathy made him ache, he never liked to see anyone upset.

“Look, okay, I know it’s none of my business and I’m not gonna blab on the Internet about you. But, like, if you wanna talk to somebody about it, you can always come over and see my dad. He’s a good listener. Like, just between the two of you. Since he’s a teacher he knows about confidentiality and all that stuff.”

Silence stretched between them, filled up with all the other sounds of that moment, and he felt the other’s stare. Danny turned to look into those stormcloud eyes. Kai bit his bottom lip for a moment then nodded.

“You know why I hang out with these idiots?” he said, gesturing at the wrestling match going on between the male Kiszkas. Save Eric who continued to sing along with Jimmy Cliff. He smirked, letting Danny know it was just more snark.

“Because they don’t blab about you on the Internet either?”

“Well they’re not even online that much, but no, it’s because they’re _real_. Like, the world my dad is in, that he _chooses_ to be in, it’s pretty goddamn fake. I don’t like it. And they never cared about that - I met Josh and Jake when I was in fourth grade and they **never** asked me about him, or any of that. It didn’t exist for them, and that made me happy. Karen, like, just adopts _everybody_. And one day I asked Ronnie, I was all, ‘Don’t they wanna meet him?’ and she said, ‘Why? You never talk about him so you must not want us to.’ and I was, like, _Ohhhhhh_.”

“What about Eric?”

Kai laughed. “He lives on his own planet, dude. Like, once a year me and my dad go to Zexxy and my dad signs stuff for them to sell, ‘cause he still has a sponsorship through O’Neill, and Eric always calls him Kai’s Dad which just cracks me the fuck up.”

Danny laughed too - even with his limited knowledge of the guy, it seemed totally on-brand.

“But wait a minute, maybe he’s **not** oblivious, though. Maybe he, like, knows how you feel about all that and he’s just tryin’ to show you he gets it.”

Kai made a face, and given how incredibly good-looking he was, even a scowl was seductive.

“New Fish, I’m, like, on the edge of liking you n’shit, so don’t ruin my prevailing theory of Eric, okay? Dude is _out there_.”

“I’ll certainly drink to that,” Danny said, raising a bottle of Mexican Pepsi, and Kai clanked it with his own.


	8. chores

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had to be on a fic hiatus because reasons, but before I go back into it here's a little something (especially for my patient Helena). xo

They had been at it for an hour, the sky still filled with the cottony clouds of the onshore flow, but there was no breeze and so not too chilly as they worked. Danny held the ladder as his dad screwed hooks into the underside of the eaves, trying to be careful of any flaking paint. Then they stood in the driveway and looked at the spot where the roof of their ranch-style house peaked in the center.

“Hmm,” Dan pondered. “Not sure I can reach up there.”

“You want me to do it, Dad?” Danny asked, not unwilling to be the dutiful son in this instance.

“We’re pretty much the same height, bud,” his dad replied. “You’re not gonna do anything unsafe for the sake of decorative lights.”

“Yeah, I guess there’s nobody around here tryin’ to win a contest or anything,” Danny observed, looking around at the other houses. Most of them did sport Christmas lights and wreaths on the doors and a few other decorative touches - the house opposite theirs had plastic pink flamingos planted in the lawn wearing Santa hats - but it was nothing like their old neighborhood in which one street served as the designated Candy Cane Lane every year, each house festooned in hundreds of twinkling colored lights. Danny recalled the line of cars driving slowly through the area, their family volunteering to run the hot cocoa/hot cider stand on the weekends.

“I think we’ll just run lights around the front windows this year, figure out how to get more fancy next Christmas.”

“Think Mom will actually go for that?” Danny inquired with a smirk.

“I’m going to do my best to be persuasive. Of course, it will help if you back me up.”

“Okay then, I’ve gotta two-for-one offer.”

Dan sighed, hooking his hands behind his head and rocking back on his heels for a moment. “Lay it on me, kiddo.”

“So, like, we wanna practice **a lot** before school starts again. Since we got the time, y’know? And, like, can we use our garage too? Like, sometimes we’d rehearse here, sometimes there.”

“I guess your mom would be okay with it if it’s not all day long, but what will the neighbors think? Noise ordinances being what they are and all.”

“Dad, we’re four miles from the airport - like, how is what we’re doing any more annoying than planes literally flying over us several times a day?”

As if on cue, they both looked up to view a 747 making its way East directly overhead, its passage putting a halt to their exchange.

“Well, I suppose we can see what happens. After all, it’s not like everyone hasn’t been living with the Kiszkas all this time.”

“Exactly!” Danny agreed with a big grin. “Hey, it’s 10:37 - we’d better go get lunch **now**.”

“Are you sure? It’s not that far away,” Dan noted as Danny folded up the ladder and placed it back in the garage.

“It’s not that - as soon as it’s 11 you know it’s gonna be jammed up!”

“You’d think there’d be enough locations to feed _everybody_ around here,” his father muttered, reaching into the pocket of his shorts to withdraw his wallet. “Hmm, all I’ve got is a $20, better go ask your mom for some money too.”

Danny ran into the kitchen and grabbed Lori around the waist as she stood before the sink, giving her a squeeze and lifting her off the floor.

“Daniel!” she squeaked, but she was smiling. 

“We’re goin’ to In-N-Out, do you have any money?”

“Now? It’s not even -”

“It’s gonna get crowded, Mom!”

“Okay, let me look in my purse.”

Danny’s phone buzzed, he took it out of his pocket and swiped at the screen.

 _R U guys done?_ Sam asked.

_lunch now be over l8r?_

_ok cya_

He wondered if Sam had been watching them the whole time, and found he was fine with that thought. It gave him that strange little shiver again.

Danny had knocked on the door several times but there was no answer. Plenty of sound behind the door, however, accompanied by several barking dogs, and the knob turned easily in his hand. He entered cautiously, peering around the door at first, greeted by a mass of wriggling bodies and wagging tails.

“Hey dudes,” he said, crouching down and petting the dogs. There was Jack (named after Jack Bruce, Sam had informed him), Petey (their dad had named him after Pete Seeger, Jake said), and Sunny (who Josh had named, after no one in particular). He endured some friendly slobbering and pushed on into the house. Two competing, though entirely complimentary, threads of music filled the air, but the living room was empty. Josh sat at the dining table next to the kitchen, reading a colorful-looking book. From its design Danny figured it was probably about the 1960s in some way, the artwork had that look to it. Sure enough when Josh laid it down on the table to say hello, Danny caught the phrase _Sixties Cinema_ on the cover.

“Hey man,” Josh greeted him with a smile. “You missed a great breakfast!”

“Yeah? What’d you make?”

“Jakey made this amazing stuffed French Toast, oh my god, I don’t need to eat for days now.”

“Sounds great. Is Sammy here?”

“Yeah, he’s in our room.” Josh pointed towards the other end of the house and took his plate into the kitchen. “He should be decent, hopefully.”

Danny swallowed heavily at the thought. _But maybe not._

He followed the music down the hallway at the back of the house, the dogs on his heels. It was coming out of an open door at the end of the space and Danny discerned that the three of them shared the master suite, each brother had his own loft: bed on top, a chest of drawers forming one of the support pillars, and a desk and shelves underneath. Each of them had a curtain hanging from the ceiling to close off the space, it was quite ingenious, so there was some privacy afforded. Danny had only ever shared a room with Josie on vacation trips and was a little stunned at the thought of such a thing. No wonder they got along so well...if they hadn’t, they would have killed each other a long time ago. No wonder Sam loved Danny’s room so much! There, he could pretend he only had _one_ person to deal with.

His new bestie was lying in his bunk plucking away at his surf green p-bass and staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t playing along to the song coming from the stereo, however. The back wall was taken over with various pieces of gear: amps and cabs, a full stereo made from components which looked like they had been manufactured in the ‘60s and ‘70s, guitars, an upright piano, and... _oh my god could it be?_

“How the actual fuck do you guys have a Studer?!” he exclaimed. “Holy shit!”

Sam propped himself up on one elbow and smiled. “I’m impressed you know what it is, dude.”

“Seriously though, like, have you **seen** how much they go for on eBay and Reverb?”

“It’s a long story, but there was this crazy dude out in the ‘Bu who knew Kai’s dad and, like, well, he talked him into letting us have it.” 

“Have it? You mean, like, _for free_?” 

“Yep. It was broken, but Jakey fixed it. Jakey can pretty much fix anything if you just, like, let him figure it out.” 

Danny stepped up to the analog tape recorder - the machines were used in the most famous recording studios worldwide - and looked at the 2-inch reels with awe. 

“So it works?” he breathed. 

“Uh-huh. It’s insured and everything, ‘cause it’s prolly the most valuable thing in the whole house.” 

“No fucking doubt!” He shook his head in wonderment. _These dudes, like, how do they have this crazy amazing life?_

“So are you, like, done with decorating?” 

“Yeah, I got them to agree to let us use the garage, but, like, you and me gotta clean it up first. So I thought we’d do that now? Unless…” 

“Yeah okay; Jakey went with Mom and Ronnie to the swap meet - it’s that time of year where they need help ‘cause they have so many things to sell. And Mom said if he did that then we can use her car for the party.” 

“Alright - I guess you’re not hungry though, Josh said you guys had a big breakfast.” 

“I wasn’t awake for that, so yeah you’re gonna have to feed me.” 

“I saved you a Double-Double from lunch.” 

“Awww dude, you are the best!” 

Sam climbed down and changed his clothes and Danny turned away, feeling himself flush as he looked at Jake and Josh's lofts. 

“So, like, is it weird to have to share a room like this?” 

“It’s all I’ve ever known, so no. It’s annoying sometimes, but not weird.” 

They emerged into the living room, where Josh was dusting and singing along to something that sounded like ‘80s pop but in some kind of African language? 

“Look out, Joshie’s in his techno-pop diva mode!” Sam teased. 

To Danny’s look of confusion Josh wiggled his hips and grinned. “Brenda Fassie, the Black Madonna of the Townships.” 

“It sounds pretty cool for that kinda thing.” 

“If it’s from Africa, Josh is into it,” Sam declared. 

“Remember you still have to vacuum, Samuel.” 

“Yeah, I will as soon as I help Danny clean his garage, so we can use it to practice.” 

Josh two-stepped and twirled as a new song began, returning to his task. 

“I have to vacuum too," Danny remarked as they walked to the end of the street. "I mean, that’s one of my chores.” 

Sam looked at Danny, wide-eyed. 

“Dude, it’s like we’re _the same person_!” 

Danny blinked several times as a smirk shaped Sam’s mouth. He guffawed and gave him a small shove, though Sam overplayed his reaction as if Danny had hit him much harder, long arms flailing. 

“ _Hilarious_ ,” Danny snarked, but he had been thinking much the same, in his own way. Maybe not the _same_ person, but an entirely compatible one. 


End file.
